Bruins 2, Rangers 1: B's take commanding 3-0 series lead

Daniel Paille snapped a tie with 3:31 left in the third period, and the Boston Bruins put the New York Rangers on the brink of elimination with a 2-1 victory in Game Three of the Eastern Conference semifinal series on Tuesday night.

Comment

By
IRA PODELL
Posted May. 21, 2013 @ 9:25 pm

NEW

YORK (AP) — John Tortorella’s message isn’t going to change even though his New

York Rangers are in an even more desperate situation than before their latest

loss to the Boston Bruins.

The

margin of error went from slim to none in an uncharacteristic home loss that

put the Broadway Blueshirts on the brink of elimination.

New

York squandered a one-goal lead in the third period and lost 2-1 on Tuesday

night to fall into an 0-3 series hole. The Rangers can be ousted by the Bruins

as early as Thursday in Game 4 at home.

“We’ll

meet (Wednesday), practice, and we’re going to try to win a game,” Tortorella

said. “That’s all you can do. Down 3-0, it’s a very tough situation, but I have

full faith in our athletes. They will be ready to play another game.

“You

try to win one and see where you go from there.”

After

two losses in Boston, the Rangers seemed headed toward getting back into it.

They had won nine straight at Madison Square Garden, dating to the final six

games of the regular season, and hadn’t lost in regulation when leading after

two periods in more than three years.

But

defenseman Johnny Boychuk tied it 3:10 into the third and Daniel Paille scored

the winner with 3:31 remaining to push the Bruins to the verge of the Eastern

Conference finals.

Only

three NHL teams have rallied from an 0-3 hole to advance. However, the

Philadelphia Flyers did it to the Bruins in 2010.

“We

haven’t talked about history at all,” Tortorella said. “We just try to go about

our business.”

Bruins

coach Claude Julien discussed it briefly, but only when asked about the

collapse three years ago and another near one in the first round this year when

Toronto nearly eliminated Boston after trailing the series 3-1.

“We

can talk about it all we want, but that’s in the past,” Julien said. “We had to

live with that and we still have to live with that.”

The

Bruins did some rallying of their own in that one, erasing a three-goal deficit

in the third period of Game 7 before winning in overtime.

“The

Toronto series, I didn’t think our team was in the zone the way it is right